From the now-infamous “Access Hollywood” leaked tape to actions that may have directly contributed to a violent attack on the United States Capitol, it has long appeared that there is nothing former president Donald Trump could do to lose support among white evangelicals.
However, events that took place over the weekend seemed to indicate growing fissures in that once impassable unity of approval, with Florida governor Ron DeSantis emerging as heir apparent over leadership of the Republican party, as well as the white evangelical support that comes with it.
DeSantis, whose gubernatorial re-election campaign will be decided this week, is believed to be preparing for a run at the presidency in 2024.
Trump, who garnered overwhelming support from white evangelicals in 2016, and then again in 2020, did so by bringing together a coalition of theologically diverse Christian leaders. The coalition has been so broad, in fact, that some Christian leaders within it would not only refrain from platforming each other but actively speak out against one another as false teachers.